Pyrolysis and combustion control in pyrolysis reactors, and associated systems and methods
A pyrolysis system for conducting a hydrocarbon pyrolysis reaction and related systems and methods are disclosed herein. In some embodiments, the pyrolysis system includes a combustion component, a reaction chamber thermally coupled to the combustion component, and a recycling component fluidly coupled to an output of the reaction chamber. The reaction chamber can be couplable to a supply of pyrolysis feedstock. The thermal coupling allows the reaction chamber to transfer heat from the combustion component to the pyrolysis feedstock to generate a product stream that includes hydrogen gas and solid carbon. The recycling component receives the product stream and can direct a portion of the product stream into the combustion component. In some embodiments, the pyrolysis system includes a controller configured to adjust various operational parameters of the pyrolysis system based on various goals for combustion fuel consumption, hydrogen gas output, energy consumption, reactor efficiency, and/or the like.
1 . A pyrolysis system, comprising:
a combustion component;
a reaction chamber couplable to a supply of pyrolysis feedstock, wherein the reaction chamber is thermally coupled to the combustion component such that the reaction chamber transfers heat from the combustion component to the pyrolysis feedstock to generate a product stream that includes hydrogen gas and solid carbon; and
a recycling component fluidly coupled to an output of the reaction chamber such that the recycling component directs a portion of the hydrogen gas from the product stream into an input channel fluidly coupled to the combustion component, wherein the recycling component comprises:
a carbon separator;
a byproduct separator downstream from the carbon separator, wherein the byproduct separator is configured to send a partially purified gas product to the reaction chamber and/or the combustion component; and
a gas separator downstream from the byproduct separator, wherein the gas separator includes a first output fluidly couplable to a hydrogen output channel and a second output fluidly coupled to the combustion component via the input channel.
2 . The pyrolysis system of claim 1 wherein the product stream further includes byproducts from a pyrolysis reaction, and wherein the recycling component directs at least a portion of the byproducts from the product stream into the input channel toward the combustion component.
3 . The pyrolysis system of claim 1 , further comprising:
a valve fluidly coupled to the input channel such that the valve controls a volume of the hydrogen gas flowing through the input channel and into the combustion component; and
a controller operably coupled to the valve such that the controller sets a position of the valve to adjust the volume of the hydrogen gas flowing through the input channel and into the combustion component.
4 . The pyrolysis system of claim 1 , further comprising a heating element thermally coupled to one of:
the product stream between the reaction chamber and the recycling component;
an input channel for the pyrolysis feedstock upstream from the reaction chamber;
an input channel for a combustion fuel upstream from the combustion component; or
the reaction chamber.
5 . The pyrolysis system of claim 1 wherein the input channel is a first input channel, wherein the product stream further includes byproducts from a pyrolysis reaction, and wherein the recycling component directs at least a portion of the byproducts from the product stream into a second input channel fluidly coupled to the reaction chamber.
6 . The pyrolysis system of claim 1 , further comprising a carbon dioxide sequestration component fluidly coupled to an output of the combustion component.
7 . The pyrolysis system of claim 1 , wherein the reaction chamber is configured to direct a portion of the product stream from the reaction chamber to the input channel fluidly coupled to the combustion component and/or a second input channel fluidly coupled to the reaction chamber.
8 . The pyrolysis system of claim 1 , wherein:
the recycling component comprises a hydrogen conditioning system; and
the hydrogen conditioning system is configured to:
separate at least a portion of the byproducts from the product stream; and
direct at least a portion of the separated byproducts to an input stream for the reaction chamber.
9 . The pyrolysis system of claim 3 , further comprising a plurality of sensors operably coupled to the recycling component and the controller such that the plurality of sensors obtain measurements of output parameters related to the product stream and provide the measurements to the controller, and wherein the controller is configured to:
receive the measurements;
determine one or more adjustments to operating parameters of the combustion component; and
update a position of the valve based on the one or more adjustments to the operating parameters of the combustion component.
10 . The pyrolysis system of claim 3 , wherein:
the controller is configured to balance an amount of hydrogen gas recycled back into the reaction chamber and the combustion component to satisfy one or more targets, the one or more targets comprising at least one of a hydrogen production rate target, a hydrogen gas purity target, a GHG emission target, and a total production rate target.
11 . The pyrolysis system of claim 1 , wherein: the carbon separator is configured to remove the solid carbon from the product stream; and the carbon separator comprises a third output couplable to the reaction chamber such that at least a portion of the removed solid carbon is directed from the third output to the reaction chamber.
12 . The pyrolysis system of claim 1 , wherein: the byproduct separator is configured to remove byproducts from the product stream; the byproduct separator comprises a third output couplable to the combustion component and a fourth output couplable to the reaction chamber such that at least a portion of the removed byproducts is directed from the third output to the combustion component and/or from the fourth output to the reaction chamber.
13 . The pyrolysis system of claim 1 , wherein: the gas separator is configured to separate filtered byproducts and filtered gas product.
14 . The pyrolysis system of claim 13 , wherein:
the gas separator further comprises a third output fluidly coupled to the reaction chamber; and
the gas separator is configured to direct at least a portion of the filtered byproducts from the third output to the reaction chamber and/or from the second output to the combustion component.
15 . The pyrolysis system of claim 13 , wherein the gas separator is configured to redirect at least a portion of the filtered gas product to the reaction chamber and/or the combustion component.